Associated Press: Dominion Virginia Power Co. hopes this week to clear the last major hurdle to construction of a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant in southwest Virginia. Following a daylong public hearing that drew hundreds Tuesday, the state Air Pollution Control Board on Wednesday will discuss plans for the plant. It may then vote on whether to issue a permit for the plant, whose expected emissions of sulfur dioxide and mercury have prompted an outcry from environmentalists. Virginia’s …